The Royal Pardon
by Fox in the Stars
Summary: Based on Final Fantasy 3 US, an Edgar and Sabin story. Formatting fixed.


The Royal Pardon 

by Half-Esper Laura  
based on Final Fantasy 3 (US) by Squaresoft 

Author's Note: I'm posting this solely to share it, not as a beta-version. FF3 has a special place in my heart, but it was a long time ago for me. My FF3 fanfiction was written about five years ago, and is not something I work on anymore, so while reviews are appreciated, a revised version is unlikely. See my Rurouni Kenshin, Castlevania, or Fushigi Yuugi fanfiction for more "mature" examples of my writing. 

* 

"Sabin, you have to take this seriously!" Edgar said. "What I've told you is _classified government information_. You are not to tell _any_ of this to _anyone_ under _any_ circumstances _whatsoever_ unless I _specifically_ tell you that you can."

"Well, what if I do?" Sabin asked, rather jovially.

Edgar ran his hand down his face and sighed irritably. "You would be executed."

"No, really, what would you do?"

Edgar looked Sabin gravely in the face. "I'd really miss you," he said. "It would be considered a national security risk, so I couldn't even grant you a royal pardon."

"Are you absolutely certain that I need to know this?" Sabin asked.

"Yes!" Edgar said. He was beginning to wonder if Sabin was intentionally trying to irritate him. "These are things you'll have to know if you ever have to become king."

"But what are the chances of that?"

"Good enough!" Edgar said. "You never know when a thing like that will happen--and you know we never caught whoever it was who tried to poison me a few months ago. Sabin, I'm not going to live forever. That's why I asked you to be my successor in the first place. If something happens to me, you have to be ready!"

"Okay."

Edgar sighed, resigned. "We'll talk about this later," he said. Maybe later, he could catch Sabin in a mood to be serious about it. Edgar was aware of the danger in this, but hopefully, everything would go smoothly until then.

***************

Severin didn't see why everyone was following him around. It seemed simple enough to him. The chief engineer said he didn't remember the password that would let him modify the engine's fuel-consumption rate, so King Edgar said "Chancellor, you know it; go and tell him." Now, for no reason, the Dukes of Oasin and Castile were tagging along, and Prince Sabin was, too, at least momentarily.

"Whatcha doin'?" Sabin asked.

"Running an errand for His Majesty," Severin replied.

"What kind of errand?"

"The chief engineer needs a certain password to work on the engine, and I know what it is. Why are you coming?"

"Nothin' better ta do," Sabin replied.

Severin sighed. He understood that Sabin didn't have anything particularly interesting to do around the castle, especially not until Edgar, as Sabin put it, "got off work" each day, but still, he could get underfoot sometimes... Usually he was just a nuisance sometimes, but the past couple of weeks, Severin found him downright frightening. This was because he knew that Edgar had started telling him all the classified codes and passwords and things, and Edgar admitted that Sabin hadn't been taking him seriously. Two weeks, and still Edgar hadn't found the right moment for any follow-up. Severin had advised against it in the first place. If something happened, he could give Sabin all the classified information, but no, Edgar had to do it his way. His Majesty could be a nuisance sometimes, too... The Chancellor loved him, though.

Chancellor Severin strode down to the engine room with the prince and two dukes in tow. Best to get done with this quickly...

The chief engineer was waiting. "Chancellor. You've got that password for me?"

"For the fuel-consumption rate?" Severin asked. The engineer nodded. "It's... er..."

"You forgot the password!?"

Severin felt the blood rushing to his face. "I..."

"Oh, it's no problem," Sabin said. "Edgar was tellin' me this awhile back. It's 0125999."

Severin felt like he was falling. Sabin had said it innocently, but on the subject of giving out classified government information, the law was written in black and white. He dimly heard one of the dukes, "We have to tell the King."

"Be sure the Matron and the Doctor are there when you do," Severin said numbly and, he realized too late, much too quietly.

"What!? What did I do?" Sabin asked.

"You made a terrible mistake, my prince," Severin recognized that Duke of Oasin's voice. "A _**terrible**_ mistake."

***************

Edgar was drumming his fingers on the arm of his throne. He had sent the chancellor on a simple errand, and now he was missing two dukes. It wasn't long, though, before Blackley, the Duke of Castile, came in the door.

"Your majesty!" he called, "there's terrible news!"

"What is it, Castile?" Edgar asked.

"Your brother, Prince Sabin, has given out classified information!"

The words hit Edgar like a slap in the face. Why had he let Sabin go when he knew his warnings hadn't been taken seriously? His mind rebelled at the news, though. It couldn't be true--it just couldn't! Blackley Castile was always trying to give him a hard time, anyway. Surely it was his cruel idea of a joke. "That's not funny, Blackley," Edgar said coldly.

Just then, the Chancellor burst in the door, with Sabin wandering in behind him. Blackley and the Chancellor exchanged a few words.

"I'm afraid it's not a joke, King Edgar," the Chancellor said. "I couldn't remember the password for the chief engineer, so your brother supplied it. What he did was quite innocent; I see no need to--"

"But the fact remains, he gave out classified information without permission--and with no forethought at all!" Blackley argued.

"Well, I'm sure that after this scare he's learned--" Severin began.

Blackley cut him off. "He can't be above the law!"

Edgar had heard more than he could bear. "Shut up!" he shouted. The hall fell silent.

"You majesty, what are your orders?" someone asked.

Edgar clenched his fists in frustration. "What I say doesn't make any difference," he said slowly. "The law is very clear." Edgar felt so... broken, so angry and helpless. He thought he would snap. He wished he could faint.

"Your majesty, surely--"

Edgar didn't need all these people pestering him at the moment his heart was breaking, reminding him that there was nothing he could do to save his brother. "Go away!" he told them. "All of you, just go away!"

People started filing out with backward glances. The Chancellor took a step forward. "Your majesty, would you like the Matron or--"

"No! Just go away and leave me alone." Edgar buried his face in his hands, sobbing, but his tears were too ashamed to come. He waited until he heard the doors close, and the great hall was silent. He leaned on the arm of the throne with his head in his arms and began to cry.

"Big Brother?"

Edgar looked up. Sabin was still there, standing below the steps up to the throne. The brothers were alone in the great, wide hall.

"How could you do this!?" Edgar cried. "I warned you! I told you what would happen!!!"

"Well... I... I'm sorry."

"Oh, Sabin," Edgar rose and went to his brother, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just, well..." There was nothing to say. "I'm so sorry."

Edgar rested his head on Sabin's shoulder, and they put their arms around each other. It really wasn't a hug--when Sabin hugged him, there was no doubt about it. It came to Edgar's mind that Sabin would probably never hug him that way again, that hearty, robust, bear hug. The brothers just stood there for some time, holding each other silently.

Edgar's mind was numb. He felt like this was all some cruel nightmare, but knew that it was not. The stillness was too much for him; He didn't like being alone with his own shock and sorrow-razed mind. "I can't believe this is happening," he said.

"Neither can I," said Sabin. "Geez, I feel sick."

Edgar felt sick, too. He felt guilty that he had been so self-centered in his sorrow. Only now did he begin to imagine how Sabin must feel, and Sabin was the one who was going to die. It was heart-rending to think about it.

"We shouldn't just stand here," Sabin said.

"We could go up to my room and... talk, I suppose," Edgar suggested.

And they went to Edgar's room and talked the rest of the day, but it wasn't enough time for Edgar to say everything he wanted to. They played the piano together a little. Sabin didn't properly know how to play a piano, so it sounded awful, but Edgar wished he could go on hearing it forever.

Edgar didn't eat anything that evening, but he went to dinner anyway. He didn't sleep at all that night, either, but he went to bed anyway.

***************

Sabin sat cross-legged on Edgar's bed. He was in no mood to have his brother's psychotic furball of a cat snap at his heels. He thought that maybe he should be doing something more with the last days of his life than sitting and waiting, but couldn't think of any such thing. How could such a tiny slip have led to this? Now that the fact of his fate was established, though, the cause hardly seemed important.

The castle was deadly silent that morning--so quiet that Sabin could hear Edgar's footsteps coming up the hall before he came in and shut the door behind him.

"How'd it go?" Sabin asked.

"As well as it could, I suppose," Edgar said quietly.

Sabin knew that Edgar had just returned from planning the particulars of the execution. He was desperately curious to know what had been decided, but he knew that it would be a painful subject for Edgar, and was reluctant to upset him by asking. The thought of being told was also somewhat nauseating, but not to know... "So... how are they gonna do it?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Edgar said, sitting down beside him on the bed.

"Ya don't know? I though ya were supposed ta decide--"

"I just couldn't," Edgar said. "Think about it--what would you say if someone came to you and said, 'We're going to kill your brother. How do you want it done?'"

Sabin could imagine being speechless in that scenario, but didn't' know what to say.

"I told them to make it as quick and painless as possible," Edgar said, with obvious difficulty.

"So when'll--"

"Saturday morning."

That left two more days before... the end. Sabin thought that he would almost rather have it over with quickly. Edgar probably needed the time with him. The last night had offered no sleep, but he had been able to think quite a bit, and had well considered the dilemma Edgar was faced with, and how it must be hurting him.

Edgar stretched out and lay on his side. It was unusual for Edgar to lay down during the day, but he was under a lot of stress. "Oh, Sabin," he said, "I just don't know how I'm going to bear losing you like this. I feel like I'm killing you."

"Big Brother, that's silly!" Sabin said.

"Well, it's to be done by the government of Figaro, and that's me," Edgar said. "I just don't get it. I've given my life to this country. I've done everything she asked, and this is what I get for it!" He paused. It seemed to Sabin that he was on the verge of tears. "I wish I could just die and not have to go through with this."

Sabin was deeply disturbed to hear his brother say such a thing. "Well, ya know, they say g'bye isn't forever," he said hastily. "There's--well... there's always the afterlife."

Sabin knew that what he'd just said was truly dumb, but it didn't matter. Edgar wasn't' listening. He had a faraway look in his eyes, as though he were turning and idea this way and that in his head, examining it and polishing off the rough spots. Sabin was glad the he hadn't been paying attention to the idiotic comment.

Suddenly, there was a thrumming sound in the air about the castle. Sabin recognized it as the Falcon. Edgar got up and walked out to the front gates, and Sabin followed him.

Setzer came in the gates. "Edgar! Sabin!" he said. "What's going on? I heard that Sabin was going to be--"

"What you heard was true," Edgar said.

"Word travels fast, eh?" Sabin asked.

"Yes, well," Setzer said, "I was in Maranda when I got the news, so..."

"Oh, Edgar!" Sabin recognized his cousin Marion Maranda's voice with mild distaste. He knew that she had been through a lot, losing her family in an invasion, and hiding from the Empire, pretending to be a lowly apothecary's apprentice, but he found her impossible to really like. She rushed in the gates and threw her arms around Edgar's neck. "I'm so sorry, she said. "I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?"

"I'm not the one you need to worry about," Edgar said gloomily.

"Well, I know what it's like to lose someone you love..." Marion said. She had always liked Edgar better, anyway. Sabin thought she seemed a little too fond of him sometimes, but reflected painfully that he wouldn't have to worry about it much longer.

"Is there anything I can do?" Setzer asked. He seemed to be taking the news suspiciously well, but for Setzer, that wasn't really uncharacteristic.

"Just let everyone know what's going on," Edgar said, "and bring the ones who want to come." Sabin nodded. Edgar turned to go.

"Edgar," Setzer called him back, "I don't mean to impose, especially not now, but your cousin and I haven't eaten yet, so..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners?" Edgar said, but with an unusual lack of energy. "I'll see to lunch for you."

Sabin wasn't hungry, and said so when asked to join them. He had forgotten lunchtime completely. Edgar probably had, too. Sabin watched the three of them go, then started up to his room, thinking about what he could do next. Perhaps he should write something--sort of a goodbye letter--but then, he had never really been a good writer...

***************

Setzer thought it really was a good lunch. Edgar stayed with them out of hospitality, but he didn't eat anything. He chatted with Marion a lot, not about his dilemma, but about a play he was helping the local theater company with, saying that he was trying to distract himself. Setzer liked plays, so he added a bit to the conversation. Eventually it wandered onto whether certain parts of the play were actually possible, or pure fiction, and Setzer didn't know much about that, so he concentrated mostly on his lunch.

By and by, Edgar excused himself up to his room, saying that he wanted to write his weekly letter to Terra before Setzer left. Setzer wondered why, since Terra would probably be there in a few hours, but he knew that Edgar's letters to Terra were often very personal. He probably wanted to pour his heart out to her privately.

Edgar really was doing his best to avoid the issue at hand, but it was obviously still upsetting him. Setzer wasn't all that worried, though. These things had a way of coming out all right in the end. Usually they did, anyway.

***************

Locke knocked on Edgar's door. He had been in the castle since the previous afternoon, but had spent most of that time with Sabin. He had hardly seen Edgar, and it was beginning to worry him.

It was a good thing that he had decided to visit Celes when he had, he thought. If he hadn't been in Vector when Setzer came, he wouldn't have known about this situation until it was too late.

It was a sorry thing, too, to see Figaro waiting for the dreaded event. The whole nation was silent, as though afraid or ashamed to apeak. People did their work quietly, keeping to themselves. There was only one thing to talk about, and no one wanted to talk about that.

And Edgar really was being slow about answering the door. If the guards hadn't been there, Locke would have been tempted to pick the lock, just to know what was going on.

At last, he heard the latching sounds of the door, and Edgar opened it. "Hello? Oh, good morning, Locke," he said, and yawned.

Locke stepped in, and Edgar closed the door behind him. "Are you okay?" Locke asked. "You don't look so great." Edgar's hair was scraggly, and he seemed rather pale, with rings under his eyes.

"I'm fine," Edgar said, rubbing his eyes. He was still in his nightclothes, and his bed was unmade.

"Did you just wake up?" Locke asked. It was rather late in the morning for that, he thought.

"I was up late last night," Edgar explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "The doctor finally gave me a sedative. That was the first sleep I've gotten since... you know."

Locke nodded. He knew. He glanced around the room and noticed an interesting bottle of clear liquid on the writing desk. "You know I'm here anytime you need me," he said. He lifted the note tied around the neck of the bottle.

"That's something Marion made for me," Edgar said. "I was trying to get my mind off of everything that's happening, and started talking with her about the play the theater company is putting on. There was a potion in it, and I didn't think there really was such a thing, so Marion gave me that to prove it."

"What play?" Locke asked.

"Some 'tragic lovers' thing," Edgar said dully. "I suppose I'll give that to the actress Monday..."

He stopped. At another time, Locke would have mentioned that that would be a good excuse to get close to a pretty girl, but this was obviously not the time for such a comment.

"I can't imagine Monday," Edgar said, lowering his eyes. "It seems like time should get to tomorrow morning and then just stop."

Locke really wished that he could say something that would make Edgar feel better, but knew that he couldn't. "We're all here for you, Edgar," he said.

Edgar rose and walked around to the closet. "Thank you, Locke," he said. "Would you excuse me for a bit? I want to get dressed and see Sabin for awhile."

"Oh, sure," Locke said. "Just call me if you need anything." It seemed like a terribly inadequate thing to say, but there didn't seem to be anything else that was better.

***************

Sabin had become keenly aware that he had only one day left. Only one day to put all his affairs in order and prepare for the next morning.

He had awakened extra early and watched the sun rise. It had turned the sky and the desert a lovely rose pink; he was surprised he'd never really watched it closely to appreciate it before.

He had also decided that it was important to write a will, and was currently seated on his bed, engaged in that. It looked rather childish, in his own handwriting on lined paper. He was looking around the untidy room and realizing that he didn't have much to leave people.

It was about lunch time, but Sabin wasn't all that concerned about it. He wasn't hungry. Mealtimes hadn't meant much in the past few days. At breakfast tomorrow, everyone was going to be in the dining hall, sort of to see him off, but he doubted that anyone would be eating much of anything.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," he called. Edgar stepped in the door, closing it behind him. "Oh, hi, Big Brother," Sabin said.

"Hi, Sabin," Edgar replied. He pulled up a chair, which had some clothes from the previous day draped over the back of it. "What are you doing?"

"Tryin' ta write a will," Sabin replied. "It's not much, but there were a few things, like I wanted ta give Cyan my Black Belt, and Relm always liked my Red Dragon T-shirt, so..."

"Are you leaving me anything?" Edgar asked, looking around the room. He seemed almost out-of-place, in his fine suit and with his hair all brushed in place, in Sabin's cluttered, completely unorganized room.

"With you it's sort of a 'and everything else,'" Sabin said, then considered that. "That doesn't sound very special, does it?" he asked. What could he leave Edgar that would really be special?

"It's all right," Edgar said. "You don't need to leave me anything."

After a pause, Sabin said, "Ya remember when we were four, and Mom and Dad yelled at ya for cutting off the end of your pigtail, but you swore on your honor I did it?"

"Yes," Edgar said. "Did I really do that? People told me that I did so much, I'm not quite sure."

"Well, I'm mentioning that thinkin' about stuff I could leave ya in my will, if that answers your question."

"I think you had better keep that," Edgar said, a smile crossing his face.

Sabin enjoyed a brief laugh with his brother, then silence again.

"So, what brings ya here?" Sabin asked.

"Well," Edgar said slowly, "this is our last day together, so I thought I'd spend some time with you. There are some things I want to be sure that I say..."

"Shoot," Sabin invited.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I love you, and that, of all the people in the world whom I could have had as a brother, I'm glad I had you."

"Same here, Big Brother."

"So, how are you feeling?" Edgar asked.

"Okay, I guess," Sabin said. "I'm kinda scared."

Edgar nodded. "So am I."

"Of what?" Sabin asked. He was the one who had until tomorrow morning, and then he didn't know what would happen. What was it in that play in high school--"The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns?" What was a bourn, anyway...?

"Well, the law specifies and execution 'in the presence of the King,'" Edgar said, putting Sabin's mind back on track. "Oh, Sabin, I don't want to go through with this."

"Hey, I don't blame ya," Sabin said. "I don't wanna go through with it, either."

The brothers sat silent for some time, not knowing what to say to each other.

"Sabin," Edgar said at last, "if our situations were reversed, what would you do?"

Sabin hadn't been expecting such a question. He tried to picture the situation, but it seemed almost too terrible to imagine. He began to consider just how hard it must be for Edgar to keep himself together through this crisis. "I dunno," he said. "I don't think I'd take it as well as you are, though. Why d'ya ask?"

"Well, because in that situation, I wouldn't want you to feel bad about it or anything. I'd want you to go on with your life."

Edgar had to have said that for a reason. "Look," Sabin said hastily, "if in all this I've done somethin' ta make ya feel bad about it all, I didn't mean it like that!"

"Oh, no," Edgar said. "It's nothing like that. Just something that was on my mind..." He looked around the room, and his eyes came to rest on the bookcase against the wall.

Sabin looked, too. There were only a few books; it was mainly full of other things.

"So, are you leaving your mythology book to anyone?" Edgar asked.

"I was thinkin' maybe Terra. It might be good stories for the kids," Sabin said. "If you'd like ta have it, though--"

"Oh, no," Edgar said with a wave of his hand, "I wouldn't want to take it from you."

Sabin had the distinct impression that he hadn't gotten the whole story about something. "Look, is there somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"What would it be?" Edgar asked.

Sabin surely didn't know. He shrugged and let it go at that, and determined to spend the rest of the time with Edgar in as good a humor as possible. He knew it was the last chance he would get.

***************

Sabin was trying to drink something at breakfast, but his hand was shaking terribly. He had done his best to prepare, but he was still so nervous that he felt shaky and sick. Just to think that he would never see the sun rise again, never hear Edgar play the piano again, never be startled by that crazy cat again; it made him sick at heart.

All of his friends were seated around the table with him--all the other heroes, and even the chancellor. Several of them had given him big hugs and said how much they loved him and would miss him. They all said how much they regretted losing him, and the chancellor couldn't stop apologizing for having forgotten the password that started the whole mess. Sabin was touched by what everyone had done, but it upset him that Edgar wasn't there.

After a couple of hours remembering happier times and saying heartfelt goodbyes, the conversation dried up. Everyone sat in silence. At last, the chancellor rose slowly and walked around behind Sabin. "Are you ready?" he asked quietly, but his voice sounded loud in the deadly silence.

"Let's get it over with," Sabin said.

Everyone said their final goodbyes. Gau gave a mournful little howl, and Relm came up for a last-minute hug. Sabin rose, and stopped. What could he say? There was no point in agonizing over it. "Bye, everybody," he said as he went to the door with the doctor, chancellor, and a few guards.

"I'll have to get King Edgar before we go," the chancellor said.

"I'd better go with you," Locke offered.

He and Celes rose and followed the chancellor out the door, which then swung shut on a world of silence.

The room stood silent for a long, long time. As for the exact period, Sabin couldn't even begin to estimate. He felt numb inside, the fateful hour at hand, but apprehension edged in even through that.

At last, the chancellor slipped back in the great doors the way someone walks into a dream. He spoke, in the voice a person uses when rapt in the heart of a nightmare. "He's dead."

"What!?!?" Sabin cried, catching the chancellor's collar.

Severin's eyes and voice were empty with shock. "The king is dead."

Sabin burst through the doors into the hallway, and started to run.

***************

"I'll have to get King Edgar before we go," the chancellor said.

"I'd better go with you," Locke offered. He found it suspicious that Edgar hadn't attended the breakfast, and was beginning to dread that he would be fighting any effort to fetch him for the execution tooth and nail. It was easy for him to picture Edgar shutting himself in his room, refusing to provide an execution in the king's presence and fending off anyone having contrary notions with a ChainSaw. It was not a pretty mental image.

The chancellor had no objections, so Locke followed him out the door, noticing that Celes was coming, too. The three of them walked through the still, silent hallways toward Edgar's bedroom in the west tower. The walk had never seemed so long. The whole castle was quiet, as if dead.

As they approached Edgar's room and saw the guard at the door, it almost seemed odd to find something alive in that silent castle. The chancellor told them his business, and they replied that his majesty had not yet wakened.

Just as one of them had taken the key to let them into the room, a sound came from inside. There was a little _scratch scratch_ on the door, and a plaintive _meowr_.

"Maileidi...?" Locke guessed.

"Yeah, that cat's been yowling all night," one of the guards said.

The door opened, and Locke stepped in first. He saw Edgar, still in bed with the covers bundled up around him. The cat ran over to the bed and nudged him a bit. She darted under the bed as Locke approached.

As he came up beside the bed, he could see Edgar's face nestled in the blankets, expressionless and still. A vague fear shot through the back of his mind. He had see Edgar sit still and sulk, but this wasn't like that. Maybe it was...

"Look, Edgar," he said. "I know it's hard, but you've got to get up and--" Locke pulled his hand back from where he had touched Edgar's cheek. It was cold.

Panic gripped him. "Edgar! Wake up!" he cried, pushing Edgar onto his back and shaking him, getting no response.

"Locke, what is it!?" Celes was asking as he leaned low over Edgar's face and felt no breath. He touched his fingers to the pulse-point in Edgar's neck. There was only stillness.

Locke sat back on the bed, stunned. Edgar was dead. He tried to think about what that meant, and found that he could not. His heart ached and sank at but the barest comprehension of it.

"Locke!?" Celes demanded.

"He's dead," he managed to say.

He heard two gasps behind him. "I've got Phoenix Down--" Celes began.

"It's no use. He's cold."

The room was still for some time, locked in a stunned silence which Celes finally broke. "Chancellor, you had better go and tell everyone."

Locke turned and saw the chancellor slip silently out the door, seemingly in a daze. A moment later, he heard the grief-stricken cries of the guards at the door.

"How did this happen...?" Celes softly asked the quiet room.

He didn't know. Edgar's body showed no bruises, no blood. Indeed, he looked as though he were only in a deep sleep...

Locke looked around. Celes was apparently looking for clues, too, walking silently around the room. Locke thought he smelled something strange, and saw a half-empty cup on the nightstand beside him. That was it, all right--its contents smelled like poison.

This raised a new and disturbing question in his mind: What could have persuaded Edgar to drink something so obviously poisoned? A conclusion rose in Locke's mind, but he immediately pushed it away. It was unacceptable, _unthinkable._

"What's this...?" he heard Celes saying.

Just then, Sabin burst through the door and ran to the bed. "Edgar! Brother!!" he cried, shaking him by the shoulders.

Locke lay a hand on his arm. "Sabin, he's gone."

"Have ya tried--"

"It's too late. There's nothing we can do." Locke was now looking straight into Sabin's eyes, and what he was seeing broke his heart.

"There's a letter on the writing desk," Celes said. "It's from Edgar, 'To those who knew me and loved me, upon my death.'"

Edgar had apparently seen his fate coming. The unthinkable conclusion resurfaced in Locke's mind, stronger now, but he still wouldn't believe it. "What does it say?" he asked.

Celes started reading the letter. "'First, I want to tell you all that I love you very much, and I thank you for making my life so rich and precious. It is for this reason that I feel I owe it to you all to tell you'..." Her voice trailed off. "Oh, heaven..."

"What does it say?" Sabin asked.

Celes took a deep breath and continued in a low voice. "...'To tell you'... 'that I took my own life.'"

"No...!" Sabin moaned. He bent down low over Edgar's face, the only one in the room that showed any peace.

Locke couldn't believe it. The unthinkable conclusion was the truth--Edgar had wanted to die, had committed suicide. It was just too much. Locke's numbed mind could barely think about it, much less speak.

Celes went on reading, though obviously as shocked as anyone. "'I'm sure you can all guess my reasons. If my brother were to be executed in my presence and in my name, as the law requires, my conscience would never have let me truly live another day of my life, and I prefer this death to that one.

"'I give you all my sincerest apologies for the pain you must now be suffering because of my actions. Although I know you must mourn for me, and I hope that you will remember me always, I want you all to go on with your lives. I say this especially for my dear brother, Sabin. Brother, please understand that his is a choice that I made for myself, for which you bear no responsibility. Perhaps this way, one of us can go on.'"

Celes put down the letter. There were a few pages there, probably with more written than she had read, but the important things for the moment had been said.

"It wasn't worth it," Sabin moaned. "Edgar, you fool! It wasn't worth this!!!"

"Sabin--" Celes began.

"This is my fault!" he cried. He sat up, embracing his brother. Edgar sagged in his arms like a rag doll. "HE DID THIS TO SAVE ME!!! It was all because of my mistake!"

Locke put his arm over Sabin's shoulders, which were now heaving with sobs. "Look, Edgar made his own decision."

"But he had to because of me."

The door came open again, and Locke looked up to see Marion Maranda rushing in. "Great news, everyone!" she said. "He isn't really dead!"

_Well, you've got this denial thing down cold, don't you?_ Locke thought cynically.

"You see," she explained, "the other day, I made this potion for Edgar. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but it's a catatonia potion. It makes someone appear to be dead for a certain amount of time, and..." She had picked up a bottle from the writing desk, the same bottle that Locke had noticed the day before. "... And the bottle's full."

Celes caught Marion as she burst into tears, and while Locke still did his best to comfort Sabin, he knew that only time could heal the pain.

***************

Saturday and the first half of Sunday had passed like a bad dream, Celes reflected. Time had plodded on, but at the same time had stood still, each aching moment just like the others.

Things had happened, of course. As Edgar had instructed in his suicide note, Sabin was coronated Saturday afternoon with the least possible ceremony. Sabin hadn't liked it, but it was Edgar's last request. Then there had been the funeral Sunday morning. When Terra had offered to arrange it--it really worried Celes that she hadn't yet seen Terra shed a single tear over Edgar's parting--Sabin had readily agreed. She had done a good job, to be sure, and had seen that Edgar's own written instructions, however whimsical they seemed, were followed to the letter. What troubled Celes was the Terra had been so calm about the whole affair, even upbeat at times. Edgar and Terra had been the closest of friends; was his loss simply so terrible that the poor girl had snapped her wits?

Everyone except Terra was crushed by the loss, and it seemed that everyone had a reason why they were to blame for all of it. The chancellor condemned himself for forgetting the password. The guards at the door swore that they had been shirking their duty. Locke was putting the last few days under a figurative microscope, sure that there was something he failed to do or say that would have prevented Edgar's death. Sabin's feelings of grief and guilt were beyond description, and Celes herself was beginning to regret neglecting Edgar while she had been busy trying to comfort Sabin. There wasn't anyone in the whole kingdom who was not in mourning, even though the masses weren't being told that their king's death was self-inflicted.

Celes was presently on her way to Sabin's room, just to see if he was okay. Such protective sentiments seemed almost ridiculous to her, but had lately become irresistible. Locke seemed to do such things a lot--perhaps the trait was rubbing off onto her.

When she knocked on the door an heard the "c'min," Celes came in quietly and saw Sabin's messy room. Since he was the king now, the room in the west tower was really his, but Sabin couldn't bear to take it. He was sitting on the edge of his disheveled bed, with Terra sitting in a chair beside him.

"Things will get better if we just give it time," Terra was saying. "It'll be all right."

"How can it be all right?" Sabin asked. "I killed my brother."

"Sabin, that's ridiculous!" Terra insisted.

"I may as well have."

"Sabin," Celes put in, "Edgar accepted full responsibility for what he did. This isn't your fault; he said so himself."

"Sure he did," Sabin said darkly, "in his suicide note. I never should have come back here after the war..."

"Sabin, I don't think you realize how much it means to Edgar to have you here with him," Terra said.

"And you do?"

"Well, in his letters, he told me a lot..." Terra looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh, dear, it's about time to start getting the dinner around."

"I hadn't thought about it," Sabin said. "I don't care. I don't want any dinner tonight."

"Don't you worry," Terra told him. "I'll take care of it." She kissed him on the forehead and said, "I'll see you soon." Celes was tempted to pull her aside for some questions as she left, but did not.

After the door closed, Sabin looked up at her. "Hi, Celes."

"Hi, Sabin," she said, taking the seat that Terra had just left. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess."

That phrase was like a solid wall to the conversation. Sabin sat in silence, an Celes know of nothing to say to him. She felt powerless, and it troubled her.

"I've been thinkin' about Edgar a lot the past couple days," he said at last.

"We all have," Celes said.

"I should've known what he was plannin' ta do. There were things he said that would have tipped me off if I'd just listened ta him..."

"Sabin, you know it doesn't help anything to think that way."

"I know."

There was another long silence before Sabin spoke again. "I've thought of a lot of things that I never said to him. Ya know, things I forgot ta thank him for, things I never told him I loved about him, stuff like that." He took a deep breath. His eyes were sparkling. "It just doesn't seem fair that I think of it now... now that he's gone."

"Maybe you should tell him anyway," Celes suggested.

"He wouldn't hear it now. What good would it do?"

"It might do you good," Celes said. "Besides, people say that the dearly departed watch over us sometimes. It could very well get back to him." She thought that she could feel her own eyes moistening with emotion.

"I don't know when I can," Sabin said. "There's so much I'm supposed ta do with everybody here for the funeral..."

Remembering it, Celes found that she now understood one of Edgar's whimsical instructions for his funeral. "Edgar asked that his tomb not be sealed for a few days. You can go tomorrow, when all the guests are leaving."

"Wow... That was thoughtful of him."

"I didn't understand it before," Celes said, "but I suppose he wanted to give you some time to say goodbye."

***************

Carisa had always known that Figaro's theater company was something special, especially since the king dropped by for their rehearsals and played their piano regularly. Having the King of Figaro as the next best thing to a member of the company had been awkward at first, but they had all eventually come to love it.

Now, with news of King Edgar's death, the players were all very solemn. They were working on _Romeo and Juliet_, and they were all sorrowfully aware that it would be the last play that the king gave them a hand with.

Still, the show must go on, and Carisa was backstage, preparing for a dress rehearsal. She was in the nightdress that Juliet, her character, wore for the famous balcony scene, and was applying her makeup when there came a knock on the dressing room door.

"Come in," Carisa called, expecting the stage manager.

Instead, it was a young woman in a fine dress, with mouse-brown hair and eyes as pale blue as King Edgar's had been. "Hello, I'm told you're playing Juliet?"

"Well, yes, but who are you?"

"Oh," the girl extended her hand. "I'm Marion Maranda. King Edgar was my cousin."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Carisa said with sympathy, shaking Marion's hand. "His loss has been hard for all of us."

Marion's eyes stayed low. "Yes, well, there was something that Edgar had gotten for you--"

That was just like Edgar, Carisa thought. She was really going to miss him.

"--to research your part."

Oh. That was all. Carisa sighed to herself.

Marion set a bottle of clear liquid on the makeup table. "That's the potion that makes Juliet look like she's dead--the real thing."

That was interesting. Carisa hadn't thought that the catatonia potion was actually possible. She thought of things she wanted to know about it--first would be the taste, so that Juliet could react to it appropriately. "If I take a little sip of this, it won't lay me low or anything, will it?"

"Oh, no," Marion said. "It takes a lot to actually make someone catatonic. That whole bottle is only two doses. I warn you, though, it tastes bad, and really strong."

_What I go through for the sake of realism_, Carisa thought, and took a sip. She frowned at the sickening medicine taste, but it was relatively weak. "It's not that strong," she told Marion.

"Huh? It should be," Marion said, obviously confused. She took a sip from the bottle and returned with her conclusion. "You're right; it is weak. It tastes like it's about half water!"

A look of dawning comprehension crossed Marion's face. She beamed a smile at Carisa, who could only stare back, utterly confused.

***************

Edgar slowly woke and found himself comfortably warm. He was gently wrapped in a filmy yet airily loose-woven cloth, with something coarser and heavier on top of it. He could see colors of light coming dully through the heavy top layer of fabric. That was relieving--if he could see light, he knew that they had not sealed the tomb on him. The light filtered through in green, red, and gold--that would be the Flag of Figaro draped over his coffin.

Edgar still felt drowsy, as he always did when he first woke. He breathed deeply, and allowed himself a few giggles. His plan had worked, and he indulged himself with a bit of self-congratulation. By now, Sabin would be king, the charges against him absolved. Faking his own death may have been a bit extreme, Edgar thought, but he was not willing to take chances with his brother's life.

His own, however, was something else. Friday night, as he drank the catatonia potion he had managed to get from Marion, he had been terribly afraid that something would go wrong--that the potion would somehow fail and kill him, that everyone would disregard his instructions and seal him in the tomb alive, or various other calamities. He was delighted that it had come off well, and it even seemed that no one had discovered him. Except Terra, of course, but he had told her about it himself.

Once the initial elation of success subsided, Edgar began to think about how he would reveal to everyone that he wasn't dead, that it had all been a hoax. He decided that the best way would be the simplest. He would get up, leave the tomb, and explain it to the first person he could find.

No sooner had he decided this, however, than he heard footsteps, which came up quite close beside him. Someone had come to visit the tomb. He briefly thought of getting up right then and explaining it all to that person, but no, that would frighten them too much. He decided to lay still and quiet until they left, wait a bit and then go on with his original plan. He returned to the position he had wakened in, head bowed slightly and hands clasped over his heart, and waited with slow, quiet breaths.

"Hi, Big Brother," the visitor said. It was Sabin. Something in the sound of his voice made Edgar realize how much pain he must have put his brother through with this charade. He thought again of getting up immediately, but Sabin would know everything soon enough anyway.

"I've been thinkin' a lot the past couple days, and there's some stuff I really wish I'd said to ya and didn't, so I figure I'll go ahead with it now. I know I'm kinda late with it, but I guess now is better than never," Sabin said, and sniffled.

Edgar was touched.

"I was thinkin' about all the time we'd been together, and I remembered how you decided the succession with that coin. Ya said, 'If it's heads, you win,' and the coin had heads on both sides. You took the whole kingdom on your shoulders so I could be free like I wanted. I want to thank you. I don't think I've ever remembered to before."

It was all so touching and sweet, and Sabin's voice was full of so much sorrow and regret... It was terribly hard for Edgar to just sit and listen without saying or doing something to make him feel better.

"I remember all the times," Sabin went on, "when you were to one who kept your head, always tryin' ta talk some sense inta me when ya knew I was goin' off half-cocked. I wish I'd listened ta you more often... If I'd listened to you, this never would've happened." Sabin's voice was beginning to break, and Edgar was sure he heard him sniffling back tears.

Edgar sighed mentally. He had been afraid this would happen. Sabin was blaming himself for Edgar's supposed death. Edgar wanted horribly to make him feel better, to sit up right then and tell Sabin, "It can't be your fault that I died because I didn't die!" That would frighten Sabin too much, though. It would be such a mess to clean up with explanation...

"I know it's a lot to ask, since this is all my fault," Sabin said painfully, "but, do you think you can forgive me?"

It was just too much. Sabin had spoken the question in a tone that begged an answer. For him to ask that enormous question and be answered with only silence was too heartbreaking to allow. Edgar would just have to plunge into it and then clean up the figurative mess that would result. This was no time to be lazy about such things.

"I believe I can."

"UWAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

Edgar hastily pushed back the shroud and the flag and sat up. He looked at Sabin, who was now backed up to the wall of this little square crypt. "Sabin..."

"You're a-- a--?"

"No, Sabin, I'm not a ghost," Edgar told him, trying to sound as assuring as possible.

"But-- But you're dead!"

"No, I'm not dead. I never was dead. It was all a trick."

"A trick...?"

"Yes," Edgar explained. "Since everyone thought I was dead, I expect they'll have coronated you as the new king. Since its' legal for the king to give out classified information, the charges against you were absolved--erased forever. I did some research on this."

"But how'd ya do it?"

"I got a catatonia potion from Marion and drank it."

"But she said the bottle was full." Sabin was finally starting to relax.

"After I got what I needed out of it, I filled it up with water," Edgar explained patiently.

"What about the cup of poison and the note?"

"I put some real poison in the cup to make it look like I drank it. I wrote the note to make it convincing, and to make sure some of the details would be taken care of--like your coronation."

"Shoot!" Sabin said. "Why'd ya hafta cover your tracks so well!? We all thought you were really..."

Edgar sighed. "I didn't want to take any chances--the idea was for everyone to believe that I was dead.

"I'm really sorry about all this. I know I put everyone through a lot of pain..."

"Everyone but Terra," Sabin said. "She hasn't cried one tear. I'm startin' ta worry that the poor girl's cracked!"

Edgar laughed. "I can explain that, too. You see, she was in on it."

"She was what!?"

"I told her what I was doing. I wanted to have someone here who knew about it in case someone decided to embalm me, or seal me in the tomb, or something.

"Could you help me out of this?"

Sabin lifted Edgar out of the coffin and set his feet on the floor, taking the opportunity of having Edgar in his arms to give him a hearty bearhug. Smiling, he asked "If ya told her, why couldn't ya tell me?"

"Well..." Edgar fumbled. The answer to that question was somewhat embarrassing. "Much as I hate to rub salt in a wound, your skill with regard to keeping secrets is--"

"Is what started this whole mess, yes I know!" Sabin said. "I think I've learned my lesson, thank you very much!"

"Well, if you're still worried about it," Edgar said, "you can keep on being the king. You don't have to abdicate back to me if you don't want to."

"Oh, no, Big Brother, this is your job."

"Are you sure about that? I haven't had a vacation in a long time," Edgar said, smiling.

"Positive!" Sabin insisted. "I wanna get this off my hands as fast as I can!"

Edgar considered what he was about to say. It was a cruel joke, but perhaps if they could laugh at everything that had happened... "That's probably best. I'm so used to being able to give out classified information that I might just--"

"THAT'S IT!" Sabin shouted, though not without a note of amusement in his voice. He took Edgar by the shoulders and began pushing him through the hallways ahead of himself. "That's it! We're going to find the Dukes, the Chancellor, the High Priestess, whoever we need to do this abda-whateveryacallit, and we're going to do it RIGHT NOW!!!"

_Half-Esper Laura_


End file.
